Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (37 page)
Read Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Online
Authors: Joanne Fluke
Hannah’s 1st Note: You don’t need a candy thermometer to make this fudge. If you’ve got a microwave, you don’t even need a
stove
to make this fudge.
1 cup
(6 ounce pkg.)
semisweet chocolate chips
(I used Ghirardelli’s)
1 cup
(6 ounce pkg.)
white chocolate chips
(I used Ghirardelli’s)
1 cup
(6 ounce pkg.)
milk chocolate chips
(I used Ghirardelli’s.)
14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
6 Tablespoons butter
Line an 8-inch square pan with waxed paper, OR line it with foil and spray the foil with a nonstick cooking spray.
You can make this fudge on the stovetop or in the microwave. Either way will work just fine.
If you choose the stovetop method, use a heavy saucepan and stir constantly while you’re melting the chocolate and other ingredients.
For the microwave, I combined my ingredients in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup and processed them for 70 seconds on HIGH. Remember that chocolate chips maintain their shape even after they’re melted so don’t go by appearance. You’ll have to stir them to be sure.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: A 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk contains approximately one and a third cups. You’re going to be dividing the can in thirds, so make each third a bit less than a half-cup and you’ll come out all right.
Melt the following together:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips scant half-cup sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
Stir to make sure everything’s melted and then spread it out in the bottom of the 8-inch square pan you’ve prepared. Let it sit on the counter until it’s cool and slightly hard to the touch and then…
Melt the following together:
1 cup white chocolate chips scant half-cup sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
Stir to make sure everything’s melted and then spread the second layer on top of the first. Let it sit on the counter until it’s cool to the touch and slightly hardened and then…
Melt the following together:
1 cup milk chocolate chips the remainder of the sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
Spread this third layer on top of the other two, smooth it out with a rubber spatula, and let it harden in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
(Overnight is even better.)
Then turn it out on a cutting board and cut it into bite size squares.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: Mike really likes this fudge when I add chopped macadamia nuts to the middle layer. Norman thinks it’s best with chopped pecans in the bottom layer. I suppose that should tell me something about their personalities, but I have no idea what it is!
These conversions are approximate, but they’ll work just fine for Hannah Swensen’s recipes.
Note: Hannah’s rectangular sheet cake pan, 9 inches by 13 inches, is approximately 23 centimeters by 32.5 centimeters.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Copyright © 2000 by Joanne Fluke
“Candy for Christmas” copyright © 2006 by Joanne Fluke
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7582-5295-1
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To measure molasses, first spray the inside of a measuring cup with Pam so that the molasses won’t stick to the sides of the cup.
***
There’s no need to keep brown sugar in stock. It can be easily made with white sugar and molasses, 1/8 cup molasses for every 3 cups of white sugar.
(That’s how they manufacture it, really. And it’ll save you from having to deal with all those lumps.)
Just add the molasses to the white sugar and stir until it is thoroughly and evenly mixed in.
***
For those who don’t like cherries, substitute well-drained pineapple tidbits, using the juice to thin the frosting. You can also use pecan halves or macadamia nuts and thin the frosting with cold coffee or water. If you don’t have anything to go on top, just glob the chocolate mixture into the indentations. That’s good, too.
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There are three packets in a 16-ounce box of Club Crackers. You’ll use only one packet. You can buy a smaller box if you can find it, but you can always use extra crackers, right? If you can’t find Club Crackers at your store, you can use any brand of salted soda crackers. Your goal is to cover the bottom of the pan as completely as you can with something both crispy and salty.
***
You can use round red-and-white peppermint candies that look like buttons, regular candy canes, or any other peppermint candy that you can crush into small separate pieces. You could even use pastel mints, the tiny little “pillows” you’ll find in a pretty bowl right next to the mixed nuts at almost every Lake Eden wedding reception.
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You can use almost any dried fruit in this candy. Lisa tried it with dried sweetened pineapple and pineapple extract, and it was delicious. If there’s an extract that matches your fruit, you can use it instead of the vanilla.
